Melons love it warm and sunny. If you want to try growing them, you can try Charentais melons. They produce small fruits, but a large number. And because of the small fruit size, they can still ripen in cooler summers. From sowing to harvest The beginning of April is the right time to sow. Soak them in water overnight and place two seeds in each pot. If placed in a warm place, the plants germinate after a week. Now they want to be in as bright a place as possible at room temperature. Hardening off begins at the end of April. Then the young plants can be put outside during the day at temperatures above 12 degrees. First in the shade, then after a few days in the sun - this prevents sunburn. Ice Saints start: When the Ice Saints are over and the weather is mild, the melons can be put in the bed or greenhouse. They also feel comfortable in a large bucket on the balcony. A location that is as sheltered and sunny as possible helps. Plenty of water! Sugar melons need a lot of water from the start so that they can develop well. A layer of mulch can make watering easier and keeps the water in the soil for longer. The plants do not tolerate drought very well, especially in pots. Sugar melons, like their relatives cucumbers, are heavy feeders. Therefore, provide the soil or pot with sufficient nutrients. An organic multi-nutrient fertilizer is good. Its nutrients dissolve over the course of the weeks and provide the plants with plenty of nutrients without over-fertilizing them. Grab the knife: A few days after planting, it's time to top the plants. The main shoot is shortened after the third or fourth leaf. This encourages the formation of side shoots and thus the rapid development of female flowers. Harvesting begins in July. The melons are ripe when they form cracks at the base of the stem, give slightly at the base of the flower and, above all, smell good. Unfortunately, fully ripe fruit cannot be stored for long, so eat them as soon as possible. You can find more tips about fruit and vegetables in the ARD Mediathek: https://www.ardmediathek.de/video/que... Plant information Charentais melons are a type of sugar melon and are therefore one of the oldest cultivated plants in the world. There are over 500 varieties, because sugar melons can be easily crossed. Sugar melons are closely related to cucumbers and belong to the gourd family. Sugar melons are very vigorous and can develop meter-long shoots, so they need enough space, both in the garden and on the balcony or terrace. There it is a good idea to train the plants up, similar to snake cucumbers. The fruits are berries, or more accurately armored berries - that is the botanical name for the fruits. When fully ripe, Charantais melons are highly aromatic and can be spooned out of the firm fruit skin. Varieties: 'Murrmel' This variety has fruits that are just the size of a tennis ball, but they taste very sweet and aromatic. The variety is also very high-yielding. In a good summer, there are 6-10 fruits per plant. 'Tonga' With handball-sized fruits, the variety reaches 600-1000 grams per fruit. It is also vigorous and healthy. 2-4 fruits per plant are realistic. Visit us here: Querbeet on the Internet: https://www.br.de/br-fernsehen/sendun... Querbeet on Facebook: / querbeet.br Querbeet on Instagram: / querbeet.br